Devices

The Devices pages answer two different questions about where your account is in use. The first is which places are signed in to it right now. The second is which browsers the account knows and treats as familiar. They sit together because they are the two tools you reach for when a phone is lost, a shared computer was used or a sign-in alert arrives that you do not recognise.

It is for every account owner. You do not need to visit it often, but it is the fastest way to cut off a place you no longer control, and a good habit to open it after using someone else's computer.

A session is a sign-in that is live now. A device is the browser itself, which may have many sessions over time. Ending a session signs that browser out and stops the applications it signed in to. Trusting a device does not keep it signed in. It only tells the platform that the browser is familiar, so a later sign-in from it is not treated as a new device.

device (browser)  --has many-->  sessions (live sign-ins)trust label:  Trusted | Recognised | Not trustedsession ends:  you sign it out, 12 hours idle, or 14 days in all

I lost my phone.

1. Sessions: select Sign out everywhere.
2. Trusted devices: untrust all devices, so nothing is treated as familiar.
3. Protecting a lost device: the full order of steps.

I used a borrowed computer.

1. Sessions: find that row and sign it out.
2. Trusted devices: remove or untrust the browser if it was marked trusted.

I want my own laptop to stop prompting me.

1. Trusted devices: mark it as trusted.
2. Sign in on another device: what new-device sign-ins look like.

Sessions answers what each column of the Signed-in sessions table means (device, location, IP address, when it started and was last active, when it goes idle and expires, how you proved who you were and how strong that was, the applications it signed in to, whether the browser is recognised and, for a company sign-in, the connection), how to sign out one session or all of them, when a session ends on its own (12 hours idle, 14 days absolute), what the live status notice does, and when you are asked to confirm it is you first.

Trusted devices answers what Trusted, Recognised and Not trusted mean, how to trust, untrust, rename and remove a device, and how to untrust all of them. It also explains that trusted devices can drop back to Recognised without you acting, for example when you trust more than ten, or when a sign-in alert is answered "this was not me", and that dropping back never removes a device. Changing trust needs a second factor used in the last 30 minutes and sends a security alert.

Sign in. Changing trust needs a second factor you used in the last 30 minutes, so have a passkey or an authenticator app to hand. If your account has none, the dialog says so and links to the Security area.

Why can I not sign out the session I am using from its row? It shows Current instead of a button. Use Sign out in the account menu at the foot of the navigation. See Sessions.

Does Sign out everywhere sign me out too? Yes, including the session you are using. See Sessions.

Is the location exact? No. It is an approximate city and country from the network address. See Sessions.

Does clearing cookies make a browser look new? Yes. A device is a browser profile, and the next sign-in is treated as a new device. See Trusted devices.

Does changing my password sign other devices out? Yes, the others end and the one you used stays signed in. See Password.

It does not explain how the platform decides a sign-in needs extra care, which this book leaves out on purpose (see What we do not publish and why). It does not cover the alert emails, which are in Notifications, or the idea of a session in depth, which is in Concepts.